It has been awhile that I get to write a blog post. Ever since the loss of my dear friend, I have been busy with life. After I processed my grievance, there were rotations then overseas trip then graduation, one thing after the other, I didn't have the mindset to write for the blog. I know as a website, I'm supposed to keep a theme and this blog has been random enough but it's quite personal and it's all me so...thanks for reading my musings of life.

Lately, I has been so unfocused and fidgety that after work, I spent my time watching sappy romance series rather than studying. If you're wondering why I have to study after graduation, for pharmacy profession, after graduation, I have to pass the national license exam and law exam in order to have a working license (yes, two tests, you read that right). Back to topics, so naturally, after my Vietnam trip, I was told and recommended to watch a Korean drama series called Descendants of the Sun. It was awesome. It was charming, funny, emotional, action-packed and so romantic. It was everything I wanted in an entertained series. The only thing it wasn't? It wasn't realistic. I hope you know by now not to base your expectations of relationships on drama series, right?

​After that series, I was looking up stuff randomly on YouTube and came across Kamisama Kiss. The episode I watched was interesting enough. It's an anime about a human girl becoming a land god by chance and falling in love with her fox familiar. But I didn't like how the fox guy was drawn and the realistic sense of the story bothered me so much that I searched for another series to watch. Yes, I confess, I love paranormal romance! I like that supernatural touch that keeps things exciting and creates situations where you can ponder on deeper questions. What bothered me so much about Kamisama Kiss? The girl is a high school student and the fox is hundreds of years old! He was reluctant and was forced to enter into the contract with her. Although it works out fine in the end (I read up on the summary of the story), I find the pair unbelievable, no matter how cute and how much chemistry they have. Yes, I know it's fantasy and it's only fiction but we always want a certain level of realism in a drama series when we watch it right? It's what makes us relate to the characters.

That was how I discovered InuxBoku SS or InuxBoku Secret Service. I finished the short 12 episodes series in 3 nights (after work). It makes me think about love and I find it very satisfying for the most part. The anime is about a high school girl (again with the high school age, I don't know why but high school age is where all the action is for manga and anime.....*sigh*) moving into an apartment complex and falling in love with her body guard or Secret Service agent. All the agents and the residents in the building are descendants from supernatural blood and they all have power and can transform. That's what makes me getting past the issue with her age a little bit. Usually, in real life, how often do high school kids find true love? It happens, yes, but rarely! At that age, with hormones raging, we're so green to life, we don't even know what true love is if it hits us in the face. In this anime, every character has special circumstances so they are all different so I give them the pass about their age. They're supposed to be their ancestors reincarnations with exact fates, sometimes even memories. ​

Before I say anything further, here's the warning for spoilers if you haven't read or seen the series. Okay, venture on at your own risk. The anime didn't focus on the supernatural side so it wasn't action-packed. It evolved around the main girl's day-to-day life and her relationship with her body guard. I find that refreshing, I probably won't watch it again and again like my favorite movie due to lack of actions but it's realistic. Our lives aren't filled with exciting adventures and action scenes. It's our emotions and our realizations and our growth in our day-to-day life. The romance was slow-paced as the girl was unable most of the time to show her real emotions and her body guard was always cheesy but also lacked the courage to show his true wishes. It was beautiful to see their romance blossoming. I don't want to spoil too much but the guard's past really explains why he's so devoted to her and it makes sense. Blame it on my forever analytical sense, but their true love makes sense. I see why they find each other and need and love each other. They give each other courage to better themselves and that's how true love is. It usually gives people the strength and motivation to be the best version of themselves.

Comparing to other popular series that I've known and heard of like Inuyasha and Kamisama Kiss, I find this pair in InuxBoku SS so much believable and I really think they're true love. Yes, there's the age difference and the main girl is in high school but seven years gap is nothing compared to hundreds in the other two series and even in human terms. Am I expected to really believe an arrogant powerful OLD supernatural being will fall in love head over heels with a high school human girl who is forced into the supernatural world? Uhm no, it's fun to watch but really, it's hard for me to understand and see it last. Let's be a bit realistic here, long lasting couples have to understand each other at certain deep level and being in two different worlds can fall in love fast but the passion doesn't really take roots to last for years with normal day-to-day life. If you're a successful doctor who works hard for everything you have, would you stay with someone who has no ambition and just wants to live off you or who is okay to flip burger and survive? Falling in love, sure! Staying in love? Doubtful! Therefore, in InuxBoku, it gives me a much stronger foundation for the characters. They're both supernatural descendants and although their circumstances are different, their basic understanding of each other is much more believable. Also, no one in the relationship is much more powerful than the other. Their power is comparable and that's much more balanced and believable for a relationship to last.

Let's face it, a balanced relationship is the best one to have and the one that is most likely to last. Another thing that makes their bonds so strong and believable is the why they fall in love with each other. I guess I'm being very critical here but when you fall in love, the feelings are so strong that you usually ignore or the thoughts of why you fall in love with someone never crosses your mind. When we're in love, we live and breathe the feelings, the rush, the emotions and all the superficial reasons surface as to why we're attracted to someone. We find them attractive, or kind, or interesting, or smart, or whatever, but have you ever thought of why this specific person attracts you? There are always many other attractive, kind, interesting, or whatever-characteristic-you-like people out there, why are you attracted to a specific someone? A lot of times, we don't know. We love someone because we just do.

In InuxBoku, they give me two reasons. They've been reincarnated many times and with the same fates, supposedly, so I guess there's the not-so-subtle (if you think about it) past life connection and soul mate connection there. But specifically to their specific time line, they each have their own reasons of why they love each other. They both notice each other when nobody else does and that's a strong why. Not because they are powerful or sexy or kind, but because they see each other deep down to their souls and understand them. The love they feel blossoming from that kind of deep understanding and being understood is the true love that I seek and I feel everyone should seek. That kind of love is true and strong and it's able to stand the test of time and whatever adversities life throws at you.

I read the summary of the manga and the last chapter of the InuxBoku manga, I'm kind of glad I didn't read the manga and started with the anime first. Basically, after the main characters confess their feelings and start dating, their apartment complex get attacked and they all die! Horrible? Yeah! Then, they get reincarnated but the main girl starts to gain her memories of her previous life and realizes she doesn't love the new guy as it is the guy in her previous life that she loves, although they look exactly the same. Twists and turns later, the original timeline characters are saved and all have happy endings. The only thing that weird me out and stops me from reading the manga is the guy in the alternate tragic timeline of the future (the one who looks the same but has no memories), wishes to be born as part of the girl and to love and protect her. So basically, the main girl and her body guard gets married and they have a boy who is the guy from this alternate timeline. The manga lost me at that detail. It can be minor and moving for the audience but frankly, it doesn't make any sense. Yes, I do expect certain level of logic in fantasy. In the tragic timeline, the reason the dude exists is because of the body guard dies and reincarnates. So they are the same soul! Hello! You can't reincarnate to be someone's child when you're still alive! This is getting into the mind-fuck parallel/paradox/whatever time jump multiple timelines territory here. In this universe, it was established that it's not parallel universe as choices affect timeline and ultimately change their fates. They've been reincarnated and some retain or regain their memories of previous life, so no matter how you look at it, they're all the same souls being reincarnated multiple times. That is basically my point, don't try to throw this cute emotional moving (irrelevant!) detail of the kid that can potentially (it did for me) ruin the logic of the universe of the story!

That has been a long rambling post. In summary, I greatly enjoyed InuxBoku SS and it gave me some concrete points to muse about love. The reasons I love the pair so much are so realistic and I can understand why it would last. True love is deep understanding and it's quite balanced between two people, in my humble opinion. I hope this long blog post makes some sense, if you have seen or read the series, let me hear your thoughts :)